Improvement in car-couplings



HIRAM H. MILLER JOHN F. ROGERS, AND CHRISTIAN FORGE, OF BUN OE- TOWN, MISSOURI.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR-COUPLINGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 161,259, dated March 23, 1875; application filed August 1, 1874.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, HIRAM H. MILLER, JOHN F. ROGERS, and CHRISTIAN FoRoE, all of Buncetown, in the county of Cooper and State of Missouri, have invented a new and Improved Oar-Coupling; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, in which Figure l is a longitudinal central section of a draw-head with our improvements applied, and Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the catch.

Similar letters of reference in the accompanying drawings denote the same parts.

Our invention relates to improvements in car-couplings and consists in the employment of a catch pivoted at its upper front end in a slot in the upper face of the draw-head, and provided with shoulders, which retain the coupling-link in ahorizontal position, or nearly so, after its engagement with the catch, as hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, A is the draw-head, the upper face of which is slotted, as seen at B, to receive the catch 0, the upper part a, of the latter fitting snugly in the slot B, and terminated at its front upper end by the cylindrical part I), through a perforation in which passes the pivotal bolt D, having its bearings in the pieces E E, projecting from the upper face of the draw-head. The lower part of the catch 0 is curved in longitudinal section, to allow the more ready passage of the link L in coupling the cars, and is smaller in cross-section than the upper part, thus leaving shoulders 61 d on each side of it, against which the link abuts when the cars are coupled, which shoulders will retain the link in a horizontal position, or prevent the latter from being tipped to any extent, which would interfere with the working of the parts. The rear end of the lower part c of the catch is vertical, and the rear end of the upper part is inclined to its top surface, so that the catch will fit snugly intov the slot B in the upper face of the draw-head. F is a recess in the upper face of thelower part of the draw-head, curved in longitudinal section to allow the operation of the correspondingly-formed part of the lower part c of the catch as it swings on the pivotal pin or bolt D in coupling or uncoupling the cars to which the device is attached. A recess is made in the rear end of the slot to allow the catch to swing when the cars are to be uncoupled. H is a hook or staple attached to the upper face of the catch, to which a chain may be attached, by means of which the rear end of the catch may be raised from the platform or top of the car in un coupling.

We are aware that the swinging catchblocks employed in car-couplings, and operated by the link, have heretofore been constructed with a recess in the inner or free end of the swinging catch-block, in which the link is received in certain positions only of the latter, and We therefore lay no claim to a recess located in the inner end of the catch-block, as it would not subserve the purposes of our invention.

We claim as our invention- The catch 0, having the hollow cylindrical part b, curved lower portion 0, and longitudinal shoulders cl d, to rest on the link, and maintain it in position when coupled, in combination with the link L and draw-head, having the slot B and curved recess F, all constructed to operate in the manner and for the purposes set forth.

HIRAM H. MILLER. JOHN F. ROGERS. CHRISTIAN FORGE. Witnesses:

J. W. TUCKER, J. E. STEPHENS. 

